By Amy Zimmer
DNAinfo News Editor
GRAMERCY — Comedian, actor and writer Ali Farahnakian started the Peoples Improv Theater eight years ago for somewhat selfish reasons.
"I don't know if there was any need for it," he said. "It was more that I needed it. I needed a place to teach and perform."
And so Farahnakian, an alum of Chicago's Second City who went on to become a writer on "Saturday Night Live" and one of the founding members of the Upright Citizens Brigade, started the PIT on the second floor of a building on West 29th Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues with room for an audience of roughly 50 people.
With five comedy shows seven nights a week, the PIT eventually outgrew its space and opened a new spot last month at 123 East 24th St., which is four times as large as the original space.
Already shows are selling out.
"There was an artificial ceiling before," he said. "People didn't want to tell their friends about us."
The theater — which is a touchstone for hot comics like Ellie Kemper ("The Office") and Kristen Schaal ("The Daily Show"), who are part of the well-known house improv team Big Black Car — now has several performance spaces, including a 99-seat theater, a 20-seat theater with a voiceover booth and a basement lounge where comics give free shows to test out new material.
"We are a teaching hospital," Farahnakian explained. "Our instructors perform."
The PIT has 55 faculty members instructing 600 students in its 10,000 square foot Simple Studios space on West 29th Street that Farahnakian opened two years ago.
Besides the school and the theater's new traveling troupe, and its increasing business with corporations and business schools doing improv workshops, Farahnakian needed something more at the new spot between Park and Lexington avenues to keep the shows cheap (they range from free to $10).
He replaced an existing 40-seat theater from when the space housed the Blue Heron Theatre and then Algonquin Theater, with a coffee shop and bar.
They serve artisanal Red Roaster Coffee, Tumbador Chocolate from Brooklyn (which hires "second chance" workers through community programs) and Ceci Cela pastries, starting at 7 a.m. The spot turns into a bar serving craft beers at 5:30 p.m.
Farahnakian wanted to stock things from small businesses since he views himself as a small businessman, too.
"I think in this day and age if you build something and it speaks truth, whether it's a TV show or coffee, it cuts through the noise," he said. "If we want to be able to do what we do, with a no drink minimum and affordable ticket prices, we have to have something to offset costs."
Pointing to the intimate stage in the basement where comedians experiment with new material, PIT's artistic director Jeff Lepine said, "It's a good place for them to come. Expectation is low. They don't have pressure to bring anyone. It's just a place to practice their craft."
